Last week, I analyzed a fantastic promotional video from Apple through the lens of Audacious, a book that describes a framework for disruptive and bold marketing. After reading that post, fellow marketer Mandy Edwards sent me another new video — this one from KFC UK — and asked, “What do you think of this one?”

Today, I present a story of audacity that went horribly, horribly wrong! Let’s see what happened when a company tried to create a chicken-based cult …

Why we need to disrupt our marketing

Before I get to this ad fail, let’s back up one step and discern why companies need to focus on bold marketing today. Some of the main points in the book:

• About two-thirds of ads register no emotional reaction with their audience. If there were a CMO for the ad industry, the person would be fired. We wallow in a marketing pandemic of dull.
• Dull has been normalized in most industries. So if you break a norm, you just might find marketing gold.
• Consumers respond to storytelling that is refreshing and new. Young consumers today love quirky content and offbeat humor.
• Finally, if all you need is marketing “meh,” AI can accomplish that. If you’re only competent, you’re vulnerable to job replacement. Competent is ignorable.

The Audacious book presents a framework anyone can use to do this: disrupt the narrative, the medium, and the storyteller.

Now, let’s get to the heart of our story. KFC created a video that certainly broke industry norms. In this ad, UK agency Mother London urges customers in a busy world to believe in chicken as if it were a new gravy-based religion.

Take a look:

You’ll note that this is “Part 2.” Part 1 involved zombie dancers, who received more favorable reviews.

Audacity and gravy

How did KFC shake things up? Three ways:

1. Obviously, this ad broke industry norms. Perhaps there has never been a promotional video like this in the history of fast food … at least not one featuring a lake of gravy!
2. The company was appealing to GenZ’s penchant for quirky humor.
3. There is a subtle connection to “purpose” here. If you feel lost, you can still believe in chicken. Everything in the world is changing, but KFC has always been there for us.

There are precedents for this offbeat, bold marketing approach that have been wildly successful.

• Liquid Death disrupted a boring water market with cringe-worthy ads
• Nutter Butter tripled its cookie sales with fever dream TikTok videos
• Duolingo stood out in an established, dull market of language education with an unfiltered owl.

So if KFC was following the Audacious playbook like these brands, why would it receive YouTube comments like:

• “I cannot possibly imagine how any person thought this was a good idea.”
• “I’ll never eat at KFC ever again, nor will anyone in my household.”
• “They should fire their entire marketing team.”

This video is an unmitigated disaster. They took a big swing and struck out. Here are three reasons why.

1. Too much to lose

There is a common thread among the three successful case studies I mentioned: They had nothing to lose.

• Liquid Death was a disruptive startup going up against Coke and Pepsi.
• Likewise, Duolingo was a new way to learn that had to attack the industry establishment.
• Nutter Butter is an older brand but had no real meaning to consumers. It had been forgotten, so it had nothing to lose by re-introducing itself to Gen Z.

Should an established brand like Coke advertise like Liquid Death? No. Coke has built a century of goodwill in the consumer’s mind.

Would Oreo ever take a page from the bizarre Nutter Butter playbook? No. Oreo is the number one brand in its category.

KFC is the biggest chicken franchise on earth, by far. It has built decades of memories and thrown them away into a lake full of gravy. Instead of building on its heritage creatively and renewing its deep meaning with a new generation, it’s taking a step backward.

“We are being polarizing because we want conversation,” said Martin Rose, executive creative director of Mother London told Ad Age. “Essentially, we’re creating our own cult of fandom.”

But this seems to me like a desperate attempt to be the new cool kid. And besides …

2. Some taboos can’t be broken

My book is a rallying cry for those who will not be ignored. It urges people to break bad rules for good reasons. But I also caution that being audacious does NOT mean you’re doing something illegal, reckless, or offensive.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the U.K.’s independent advertising regulator, received nearly 600 complaints about KFC’s commercial, a spokesperson told ADWEEK.

The complaints include people saying the ad promotes cannibalism, that it glorifies cults and satanism, and that it mocks Christianity and baptism.

Now, a lot of famous ads receive complaints from the easily-offended. Is this really knocking religion or is it just silly?

Language in the company’s description of the ad reinforces the offense:

“Fear not, for salvation in sauce is near. Trust in the thumping sound of the golden egg. Trust in the liquid gold elixir. Trust in the divine dunk. And whisper the sacred words All Hail Gravy.”

The phrase repeated in the Bible most often is “Fear not.” So of course any Christian would be offended when a company compares their salvation to gravy.

And then there is the gravy dunk, where a person turns into fried chicken. No, no, no. Also, no.

3. It’s just gross

The ad didn’t just offend people who don’t prefer cannabilism; it upset just about everyone in the ad industry.

One commentator on Marketing Beat called the ad “disgraceful,” describing it as “degrading and disturbing.” Others labeled it “vile,” “uncomfortable,” and “horrendous.”

One marketing industry observer noted: “I’ve never complained about an advert before, but this is beyond the pale.”

Getting out of the gravy

I don’t want you to be dissuaded from bold marketing and taking risks because of one bad ad. But we should reflect on how something like this ever sees the light of day. When an ad becomes a public disaster, one of four things has happened:

1. Internal political fear.

This is the biggest problem I observe, by far. When a powerful company executive falls in love with an idea and forcefully champions it, agencies, hungry for that next paycheck, nod along like bobbleheads. Corporate minions, fearing for their cubicles, become a chorus of yes-people.

2. Lack of diversity in the creative process.

If the team behind an ad campaign lacks diverse perspectives and backgrounds, they may miss potential blind spots or fail to anticipate how certain groups could perceive the ad negatively. Having a homogenous team increases the risk of tone-deaf messaging.

3. Overconfidence and lack of external review.

Respected brands can sometimes become overconfident in their marketing abilities and fail to get sufficient external feedback before launching a campaign. Big brands often mistake their logo for a shield of invincibility. This insular approach prevents them from catching potentially offensive or controversial elements.

4. Failure to consider the current cultural context.

Ads that may have been acceptable in the past can become problematic if they fail to account for evolving cultural sensitivities and the social climate around issues like race, gender, body image, etc.

In other words, when executives put egos above common sense, gravy happens.

Being remarkable matters. Bold marketing matters.

But not all risks are created equal.

Keep pushing edges, but remember what you stand for.

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

The post The Thin Line Between Bold Marketing and Brand Suicide appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

The hottest marketing topic in the world right now is Nutter Butter.

And that’s the point.

Nutter Butter, the sixth most-popular U.S. cookie brand, has upended TikTok with unhinged videos that cross horror movies with an acid trip. Here’s an example:

@officialnutterbutterTHE DAYS–when. .plow? original sound – nutter butter

This might seem like an inexplicable, or even dangerous, way to promote a cookie loved by children. But this strategy aligns with research I’ve done for my new book (“Audacious,” out January 2025). In the context of modern marketing, this strategy is bizarre but also brilliant.

Today I’ll explain why the Nutter Butter campaign is more than chaos.

The biggest problem in marketing today

… is attention.

We live in a world awash with content. Our ads don’t just compete with other ads. They compete for attention with Netflix, Candy Crush, and photos of the new grandkids on Facebook.

And this war for attention grows even more desperate with AI. AWS reports that already more than half the content on the web is AI-generated slop.

To break through this incredible wall of noise takes something bold … maybe even a little crazy. So let’s start there. Nutter Butter needs awareness for its brand and is taking a risk to be audacious.

Purpose behind the outrage

This campaign is getting so much attention because it’s unsettling, perhaps even horrifying. But there is a method behind this madness.

Jonah Berger, a Wharton marketing professor and author of one of my favorite books, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, identified emotional connection as one of the key factors influencing content virality. He explained that when we care deeply about something, we are more likely to share it with others and remember it.

Jonah’s research showed that content that evokes strong emotions, whether positive or negative, is more likely to be recalled and talked about than content that is purely informational or emotionally neutral.

Virality is most associated with high-arousal emotions like excitement, awe, anger, outrage, and fear. Yes … anger, outrage, and fear.

Another company embracing anger and outrage is the fast-growing water brand Liquid Death. It created its brand by starting with WRONG —  Naming its product Death. Selling water in cans emblazoned with skulls. Adopting gruesome images as its brand vision. Collaborating with porn stars and other alternative niches. And in three years, this brand went from nothing to a valuation of $1.4 billion.

The bizarreness effect is a facet of human memory suggesting that we better remember things that deviate from the norm. This phenomenon is also known as the “von Restorff effect” or the “isolation effect.”

One of the highlights of my new book is the idea that most marketers typically focus on positive emotions. By highlighting fear and outrage, Liquid Death and Nutter Butter are tapping into an overlooked strategy to increase awareness and relevance.

The world wants weird

The Nutter Butter campaign is on TikTok for a reason. Gen Z likes brands that go their own way, and the weirder, the better.

• A study by the market research company Ipsos found that 65% of Gen Z respondents believe that “being true to yourself” is more important than being popular, compared to 43% of Millennials and 35% of Gen X.
• Research by the advertising agency Wunderman Thompson found that 70% of Gen Z respondents believe that being different is a good thing, and they prefer standing out from the crowd.
• A Live Nation study showed that 82% feel “weird is in” and 58% say the more absurd something is, the cooler it becomes.”
• Much has been written about the rise of absurdist Gen Z humor that baffles older generations. The weirder, the better.

So the unexpected weirdness of the campaign might not make much sense unless you’re part of Gen Z.

Is Nutter Butter “on brand?”

Some of the criticism of this campaign is that this is just too weird for a cookie brand. These horrifying images are off-brand.

Well, let’s start with a question: When you think of the Nutter Butter cookie, what IS the brand? That’s what I thought. Nothing comes to mind. You probably haven’t had one of these cookies since you were a kid … if you’ve ever had one at all.

My point is that Nutter Butter has no meaningful brand recognition and has nothing to lose by stepping into Crazy Town.

Would this work for Coke or Nike or Apple? No, because these companies actually have brands. Nutter Butter had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

If a cookie competitor like Oreo created insane videos like this, it would be truly off-brand. So Nutter Butter is turning its weakness —  it has no brand meaning — to its advantage by owning the weird.

And it worked.

Here’s a funny thing. If you search for Nutter Butter on TikTok, it’s actually hard to find the ads because there are so many influencer posts talking about the ads and directing their followers to the account. One influencer video garnered 3 million views alone. In a few weeks, Nutter Butter has added one million new TikTok followers. Each video is receiving thousands of comments and shares.

So, the brand is suddenly relevant, in the middle of the culture, creating conversations. What a success story.

It’s also getting attention from the general public. Here is the search interest in Nutter Butter over the last year, according to Google Trends:

The nightmarish campaign is receiving tons of mainstream media coverage, including The Today Show and Fast Company. The cookie chaos has spawned numerous reddit popular threads trying to interpret what it all means.

Is it having a financial impact on the brand? It’s too soon to tell, but it’s hard to imagine that it’s not experiencing a significant sales boost from all this attention.

Is it sustainable?

Is this a stunt or a strategy?

I think it’s too smart to be a stunt. My guess is that there is actually a narrative here. There are characters, codes, themes. I think a subcult of people will devote themselves to unraveling the mysteries and Nutter Butter would be wise to keep the momentum going with actual clues and rewards.

It will be interesting to see how all this madness might spill over to their packaging. What would happen if they had a special edition Nutter Butter Man package? There are a lot of ways they can go with this. If they keep this madness going and there is some underlying depth to a storyline, it would be sustainable.

Here’s the lesson

To stand out in the world today, competence doesn’t cut it. Competence doesn’t create conversations. Competence isn’t culturally relevant.

If your marketing is competent, it’s ignorable.

Nutter Butter is no longer ignorable because they have stepped off the cliff and taken a dive into audacity.

What you’ll learn in my new book is that you don’t have to be horrific or shocking to be audacious, but you do have to disrupt the marketing patterns in your industry. With the help of some of the world’s most renowned creative experts, I’ll teach you how to disrupt your marketing narrative.

I can’t wait for you to see the new book … and I also have a new speech on this topic!

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

The post The Nutter Butter campaign explained. Yes, this nightmare makes sense appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

This post builds on some of the thinking from previous posts as we begin to discover the implications of the AI Era. One of those implications is that we might need new CTAs (calls to action) for our content. This is an interesting idea, and it begins with vampires.

The Vampire Effect

Have you ever enjoyed an advertisement — and even talked about it with friends — but could not remember who the sponsor of the ad was? This happens all the time when we are overwhelmed by the special effects and star power of the ad.

In the ad industry, this is called The Vampire Effect. It’s when the glitz and glamour of an ad sucks the life out of its purpose. Star power overshadows the message. Dazzle eclipses action. Who did that ad?

We recently had a case of this in the RISE community. We were discussing a particularly gripping ad campaign shown during The Olympics.

The campaign tells the real stories of six Ukrainian athletes, each of whom had to put their Olympic dreams on hold to fight in their country’s ongoing war with Russia. But in a startling turn, each athlete was killed in the war and will never compete again. The “narrator” was an AI-generated deep fake of a real person.

The campaign, titled “The Revived,” was developed by TeamBBDO in Germany on behalf of Brand Ukraine, an organization committed to strengthening the country’s brand and Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports.

In a community discussion, my friend Roxana Hurduca mentioned that the request for a donation at the end of the ad left her cold. My response was “Whaaaaat?” I had seen the ad three times and never saw the CTA.

The ad’s power became its pitfall. Emotion overwhelmed attenton. By the end of the ad, I was so moved by the message that I zoned out when it asked me to do something.

This is a classic example of The Vampire Effect … and something more.

Everything is spectacular

Last week, I published a post discussing the coming age when everyone will be able to create content on a laptop as mesmerizing as any Avenger movie. I know this assumes that you think the AI-driven Marvel movies are indeed mesmerizing. If not, just play along for a few more sentences.

In other words, everything will soon be universally spectacular.  The point of the article was that when everything is dazzling, we will crave the small, the hand-crafted, the human, even more. But there is another implication.

Another leader in my community, Zack Seipert, asked, “Do you think when everything is spectacular, we will need some new kind of Call To Action?”

Certainly, this is a very wise and true observation. We’re approaching a world where the spectacular might blind us to the message. Where the sizzle drowns out the steak.

In this new landscape, cutting through the noise isn’t about being louder or flashier. It’s about being real, relevant, and resonant.

As we hurdle toward a world where the only limit is our imagination, sometimes we might need to pump the brakes to ensure our message is heard. It’s not enough to create something memorable.

The real challenge? Crafting a message that sticks AND spurs action. In a world of increasing spectacle, the winners will be those who master this delicate dance. Who can move us emotionally AND move us to act.

Will you be creating vampires or changemakers?

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Illustrations courtesy MidJourney

The post Why We Will Need New CTAs in the AI Era appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

I’ve been noticing a lot of messy marketing in the world and it’s driving me crazy.

For example, there is a commercial playing during American sports events that is just SO ANNOYING. It’s a Burger King commercial like this one:

Why does this bother me so much? The singer is off-key.

I’m not the only one who noticed. The most popular search term for this advertisement is “annoying Burger King commercial.”

Burger King is a successful chain that can afford a decent singer. The commercial also has a throwback 1980s sensibility that reminds me of an 8-track tape.

So I can safely assume Burger King is TRYING TO BE ANNOYING.

Why? I had to know.

When does it actually makes sense to make your marketing messy? How can mistakes, problems, and even off-key singers improve your marketing? Some friends provided examples …

Messy marketing in action

Jeff Tarran is a direct mail marketing expert for Gunderson Direct. He said “ugly” really works in direct mail because it creates a feel of local and demands attention. Jeff told me that “Ugly sells.” Design perfection can actually depress response.

Mail with scuff marks and even wine stains get attention:

Jim MacLeod, an expert in brand experience, added another perspective: “Friction can build brand affinity when it’s done right. Birkin Bags are popular BECAUSE of the level of effort it takes to purchase one. If they were easy to get, people would care less.

Anna Bravington, a marketing strategist, noted that many brands trying to appeal to a younger generation are going for an “unfinished” look: “Ryan Air, for example, is really embracing the raw and fun aspect of the TikTok video format with no fancy overlays and a look like it was just straight out of a phone.

“Research shows that people are around 2x more likely to love a brand that is perceived as more human. So, bringing imperfection into something that is usually so polished brings a certain human vulnerability.”

In fact, “raw” is in right now. Bruce Scheer shared with me that the two biggest Instagram trends are:

1. Authentic, unedited photos
2. Desaturated, moody palettes

Scarcity might be the best known form of friction. Spencer Crandall of Small Biz Pathfinders told me:

“I owned a store that sold LEGO products and the reason it worked was our tables full of bulk random LEGO parts. It was a daily treasure hunt for those special rare parts for the enthusiasts and the fact that today just may be the day they come across a find. That kicks those endorphins into high gear. That’s what exclusivity is about — facing the possibility of not getting the thing, but maybe actually getting the thing!

And back to that annoying Burger King commercial … Mary Kathryn Johnson, a conversation designer, had this take on it:

The Burger King ad is a perfect example of indoctrinating a new generation to the brand by being off-key with the song of the last generation. They’re not changing the song, just making it off-key. I think this is a great subtle marketing tool for a brand to attract customers who have a preconceived notion of their products/services, and the brand can try to change that perception for the new generation of consumers.

The Pratfall Effect: Messy Marketing Genius

My exploration of messy marketing hit a new gear when I mentioned it to my friend and podcast co-host Amanda Russell. She said, “Hey! Have you heard of the Pratfall Effect?”

The pratfall effect is a psychological phenomenon that describes the way people’s perceptions of someone’s competence can be influenced by their display of vulnerability or mistakes, often in a humorous or endearing manner. This effect was first studied by social psychologist Elliot Aronson in 1966.

The main idea is that mistakes can disrupt initial perceptions, make somebody look more endearing or attractive, and enhance an image of fun and humility.

The Pratfall Effect is more likely to work when the individual’s competence is already relatively high. If someone who is perceived as incompetent makes a mistake, it may not have the same endearing effect because it reinforces the existing negative perception.

Messy marketing for the win!

OK get ready for this! Amanda and I recorded an entire episode of The Marketing Companion dedicated to messy marketing and the Pratfall Effect! So. Much. Fun.

• We talk about our own experiences with mistakes and vulnerability
• We explain how Mark Zuckerberg’s hoodie breaks a pattern — and why that won’t work for most people.
• Why is a chunky cookie more endearing than a perfectly round one?
• How the Pratfall Effect can actually destroy your reputation.
• And then there is the case of an $85 pocket square.

One of the most fun episodes ever. Click here to get in on the conversation!

Click here to get messy with this new podcast episode 274!

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Now any business can build automated customer experiences, email marketing workflows, and landing pages that guide your customer to your main message. We are here to support businesses successfully navigating their digital presence in order to strengthen their customer relationships.

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The post Is it time for you to try messy marketing? appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

My friend Amanda Russell and I had a vital discussion about the connection between strategy, AI-generated content, and the personal brand.

Obviously, these factors are interconnected. For many creators, entrepreneurs, and businesses, content drives the brand, and the brand drives the business.

We are in a period of incredible upheaval as AI-generated content swarms our lives like locusts on a grassy plain. When the cloud of uncertainty lifts, where might we see a stable place where human content might thrive?

There are always exceptions, but here is a view of where I think it will settle out:

• The cells in red represent content categories that will be dominated by AI-generated content.
• Yellow cells indicate there will be a mix.
• Green cells represent categories where humans can still have a dominant role.

The over-arching theme is that where consumers need only information, AI-generated content will overtake human roles. If consumers seek inspiration and insight, they will seek out human thought leaders and artists.

Let’s examine this on a more granular level.

AI-generated content and information

Column one is entirely red. We already see jobs displaced where emotional connection to a human insight is not important. When we read news or see a new logo, we usually have no idea the name of the human connected to that work. This type of content is ruled by patterns. Even a news story is formulaic, as Google recently demonstrated. I’m not saying there won’t be a human hand behind the overall strategy in this column, but any commodity content will probably move to AI.

Column two is the area where there will always be a mix of creators, depending on whether a consumer is looking for information or inspiration. Many corporate blogs will be overrun by AI-generated content, and we are already seeing the massive automation of social media posts. The scale could tip toward humans in this column if there is a meaningful connection between a creator or corporate leader and an audience.

The outlier here is podcasts. Generative AI podcasts are here, and some of them are interesting, pitting virtual historical figures against each other in debate. But overall, I can’t imagine a world where AI podcasts would be anything but a niche category. Most people will prefer insight and inspiration from a real person and a real voice.

Column three is almost entirely human. My thinking goes like this … While we might be entertained by a gallery of AI-generated art, we would probably want to buy fine art from a real artist (and the fine art market is booming right now!)

Similarly, AI-generated content has flooded the book industry, but most people will choose to buy a book from a beloved author who is expressing personal experiences and interpreting the world through their stories.

Many movies are already dominated by AI-generated images, and there is no reason scripts, scores, and even the actors cannot come from a bot. As I watch an intense battle scene in a Marvel movie, I wonder if any of it is filmed in a real place with real people. We already accept AI-generated content as a superior experience in many film genres. The recent Academy Award winner Everything Everywhere All at Once could not have been created without it!

I hope there will be more AI-based movies. I’d like to see the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, and Robin Williams in the same film.

When do you cross the line?

I realize you’re looking at where AI might be able to essentially replace humans at tasks here…

Obviously, there is going to be a layer of AI applied to everything we do, even novels and podcasts. I’m sure when I write my next book, I will be able to use it many imaginative ways to help me ideate, organize, and edit.

My friend Frank Prendergast comments: “What has been on my mind lately is how much we are still thinking of content and AI in a binary way — was this AI or human?

“I think AI will be so baked into tools and processes everything will be somewhat AI … Which raises even more complications for your axis.

“If I read a blog post from someone on the assumption it’s written by them, and I find out it was actually AI, I’ll feel cheated. Like I’ve been a victim of the old bait-and-switch.

“But where’s my line? Is 20% AI OK? 40%? 60? I have no idea. And how would it even be measured?

“Will that question be a thing of the past when AI is ubiquitous?

“And at that point, is it more likely more of your green turns red? Or reddish?”

Frank makes a great point. ChatGPT is to writing like the calculator is to math. We don’t feel compelled to declare that we used a calculator to do math. When does AI simply become … life?

Implications of AI-generated content and careers

I have been writing about the intersection of AI, strategy, and personal brands for some time, and there are three consistent themes that I elevate:

1. If you are in a career providing information, you’re vulnerable. If you provide insights and inspiration, you’ll probably be OK.
2. Going forward, the personal brand is everything. If you mean something to people, then your content will mean something too. I’m not worried about blog readers abandoning me for AI-generated content because I am known and trusted. For many, my posts, podcast, and books are part of the fabric of their lives.
3. Another theme of my practice has been “the most human company wins.” I’ve exhorted for years the importance of attaching real humans and real stories to the corporate content environment. Is there an opportunity for your company to inspire instead of just inform? Your “informing” is about to become overwhelmed by AI competition.

Join the discussion

In the latest Marketing Companion podcast episode, Amanda Russell explains that she probably would read a book generated by AI. There is no cut-and-dried guideline here! But I hope the chart I present today makes sense!

I hope you’ll choose to learn more about this topic by clicking here to listen to the full podcast episode exploring the intersection of strategy, AI-generated content, and the personal brand. Amanda is always full of energizing ideas and insights!

Click here to listen to Episode 278

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This episode is brought to you by Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). Brevo gives you the tools to attract, engage, and nurture customer relationships.

Now any business can build automated customer experiences, email marketing workflows, and landing pages that guide your customer to your main message. We are here to support businesses successfully navigating their digital presence in order to strengthen their customer relationships.

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Build Your Brand with the Architects!

Introducing a research-first podcast that builds revenue, not condos — The Marketing Architects!  Keep up with the biggest marketing trends and news through discussions based in marketing, psychology, and economics research. Along the way, learn about marketing accountability, category leadership, brand-building, and much more. Featuring a team of experienced marketers whose blueprints for success are marketing strategies that have actually been proven to work.

Today’s image courtesy MidJourney

The post The hierarchy of AI-generated content: Where humans thrive appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

For the rare few who may have missed the most “human commercial,” Nathan Apodaca of Idaho Falls posted a TikTok video featuring him skateboarding to work, drinking Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, and singing along to “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac.

Although this happened a few weeks ago, I’ve been unable to get this quirky little video sensation out of my mind as an example of the radical industry transition I described in my book Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins.

In this book, I explained the inevitable decline of traditional marketing/advertising and the rise of the consumer as our marketer. Already two-thirds of our marketing is occurring without us. Marketing today requires a new mindset — how do we get invited to that two-thirds? How do we help our customers do this job?

Let’s dissect the Ocean Spray case study for five important lessons.

The most human commercial

With more than 60 million views and counting, this homemade video was more effective — by far — than any advertisement Ocean Spray and its agencies have created in the 90-year brand history.

The TikTok video propelled beverage sales and almost doubled the value of the Ocean Spray stock price.  For good measure, “Dreams” reached No. 1 on iTunes and returned to the Billboard charts for the first time since 1977.

Can we just pause a moment and appreciate the power of what just happened here?

Nathan was no Bieber-level celebrity or star influencer. He just liked juice and needed to get to work.

According to The Guardian, Nathan made the video as he was commuting from his trailer, where he’s been dealing with water and electricity outages. Then his car broke down, which forced him to hit the road on his longboard.

He arrived only a few minutes before his shift at a potato factory was due to start. He considered deleting the clip and getting on with his day, especially as phones are prohibited on the factory floor. But he got it up just in time. By the end of his second break, it already had 2 million views.

On one hand, you have the American dream in a 20-second clip. But on the other, a story of how precarious life can be for so many Americans, especially in these COVID times.

The video is real, raw, human, and vulnerable.

Generally speaking, everything ads are not.

The most human company wins

The following story sounds bizarre but I swear it is true.

I was invited to give a workshop to professors at the University of Tennessee business school. At that time, the university did not have a single undergraduate class in digital marketing (still not sure if they do) and I was brought in for a full-day discussion in hopes of nudging the educators into the current decade.

After about an hour, I could tell I was losing the room.

The chair of the advertising department sat at the end of the long conference table with a scowl and crossed arms. Finally she could no longer contain herself. “Social media is a passing fad,” she exclaimed. “We need to focus on the fundamentals of television and magazine advertising design. That’s what our students need to know to succeed.”

I told you it was unbelievable.

I’m not just picking on Tennessee (well … kind of). I still see this denial in much of the ad industry. The traditional manner of making ads that can compete for an award at Cannes is put on a pedestal by our universities and agencies as they deny the Marketing Rebellion right in front of their eyes.

Making beautiful ads is glamorous. It’s what we know and we’re good at it. Hobnobbing with stars and displaying trophies for our offices is tangible and sexy.

But the dude on the skateboard is making the money.

Will that video finally be a wake-up call? I doubt it.

Cranberry Guy lessons

One of the most common questions I’m asked is: “How do big companies make this transition to human-centered marketing?”

My answer is normally, “I don’t know.”

Small businesses seem much better positioned to put real human faces, smiles, and compassion at the center of a marketing strategy. How will big companies wean themselves from their decades-long addiction to Madison Avenue glamour? Hard to say.

But I do think there are a few lessons from this most human commercial for a fruit drink.

1. You can’t plan for viral

I imagine there are a million brands hoping to make their own skateboard video now. But digital natives will know this is opportunistic, if not outright dumb, and see through the premise.

So let’s get off of that idea right now. You can’t plan for viral. But you can sow the seeds.

2. Enter the conversation

Let’s go back to this important concept that two-thirds of our marketing is occurring without us, a fact revealed and confirmed by 10 years of McKinsey research.

Great marketing today is about being invited to that consumer conversation. We can’t buy our way in. This relationship has to start with TRUST. Nobody will share positive content about a brand they mistrust.

Instead of manipulating consumers, how do we come alongside them — help them, entertain them, make them go “wow?” That is the heart of marketing today.

3. The end of control

This is might seem like a foreign concept but we’re not in control of the brand message.

Let’s say an ad agency created a proposal for the exact same Ocean Spray TikTok video and presented it to the company for review and approval. Here’s what they would say:

• That person does not represent our core demographic of suburban housewives.
• Legal won’t approve of this video because the man is engaging in risky behavior. He’s not even wearing a helmet. What if people copy this stunt and sue us?
• He’s drinking right out of the bottle. That is off-brand.
• You can hardly see the product. Make the logo bigger.

… and so on.

But the video worked precisely because the brand is no longer in control of the messaging. Nathan is.

A brand used to be what a company told you it was. Today, a brand is what we tell each other.

4. Experiences over engagement

Many brands are obsessed with “engagement” as a brand metric. There is not much of a direct relationship between engagement and measurable business value.

But what sort of experience can we provide that is so cool, so entertaining, so awe-inspiring, that people will think, “Wow! I just have to take a picture of that and post it!”

This is how we enter the conversation, by earning our way in. People are finding every way to avoid, skip, and block our ads. But they will stand in line for an experience and then tell all their friends about it.

Ocean Spray was lucky with this success, but there are many examples of companies moving toward experiential marketing to inspire organic customer content.

5. Swim in the same content stream

One of the biggest problems with branded entries in the social media space is that the content is not organic to the experience.

Look at this Instagram post:

WHAT IS THIS??? (And how did it get almost 2,000 likes? No way).

This is the least human Instagram I can imagine. I’m sure a marketer for Aditya Birla Chemical Company is proud that they now have an Instagram presence but this is not an Instagram post, it is an ad. It is not native to the content stream. It just sticks out as something we should skip and avoid.

Or perhaps this company’s strategy is to create an Instagram post SO BAD that it would trick me into sharing their content on my blog. Very clever!

Become the most human company in your industry

Over the past months, I’ve given many online talks to banking associations, educators, lawyers, artists, and about every field you can imagine. And here is my message: The most human company wins.

This is not just my opinion. We can literally see this trend of human-centric marketing rapidly accelerating, especially in this COVD era.

The reason the TikTok video worked as the most human commercial is because it wasn’t forced or polished or heavily branded. It was completely human. And the best way for brands to connect in a similar way is to stop advertising and just join in as fellow humans who try to get by in hard times, have some fun, and get to our shift at the potato factory on time.

Update June 2021: Nathan Apodaca introduced his own cranberry-flavored alcoholic drink. 

Mark Schaefer is the executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions. He is the author of several best-selling digital marketing books and is an acclaimed keynote speaker, college educator, and business consultant.  The Marketing Companion podcast is among the top business podcasts in the world. Contact Mark to have him speak to your company event or conference soon.

The post Case study: The most human commercial wins appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

By Steve Zakur, {grow} Community Member

“Facebook is warning advertisers that they can expect weaker ad performance from iPhone users once iOS 14 comes out next month and is telling them to create second advertiser accounts to contain the disruption.” – Axios

Facebook sounded the alarm yesterday about the impact of ITP (Intelligent Tracking Prevention) being embedded in Apple’s impending iOS 14. Apparently, ITP will affect Facebook’s ability to serve ads through its Audience Network to iPhone app users.

This created quite a stir but not because ITP is new news. ITP joined the alphabet soup of privacy acronyms a few years ago when Apple announced its Safari browser would limit the ability of companies and third parties to track users. Google’s Chrome and Firefox announce plans to adopt the tracking prevention technology as well. What was new is that this stuff is getting real. No in-app ads on iOS14 devices!

Facebook warned it could affect earnings. I think ITP has our attention.

Is this ITP thing a real problem for B2B marketers?

If you’re using traditional cookie-bound technologies to target ads, personalize experiences, and engage users, ITP is a real problem. Most of the value proposition for personalization is predicated on knowing who the person is. ITP makes that more of a challenge.

One of the major features of ITP is the expiration of cookies after seven days. For owners of B2B websites, this is a challenge.  B2B sales cycles are long. Visitors rarely identify themselves especially early in the sales cycles and they’re unlikely to make multiple visits to a website in a short time period. Most visitors appear as new to engagement technologies like personalization regardless of whether they’ve been on site before.

And the fact that this latest development “only” affects iOS devices should be of special concern to a B2B marketer. We see in our data that iOS users are disproportionately represented in our traffic data and that of our clients. So there’s no comfort in the fact that it’s only Apple devices. In addition, I expect before long Chrome could follow suit as they did on the desktop browsers.

Do those folks at Apple hate the B2B marketer?

It sometimes feels like B2B marketers are being boxed in by regulators and the browser providers. Why do they feel the need to make marketing even more difficult than it already is? Well, the motivations of the players are not all the same.

Regulators are responding to political pressure. And that political pressure comes from all the humans who have had their data lost, stolen, and used for nefarious purposes. For decades companies ignored all the bad stuff that goes on with customer data in pursuit of profit. Your customers took notice and decided something had to be done. That sentiment was the genesis of GDPR and CCPA. I suppose you could say it is a Marketing Rebellion!

Apple’s motives are a little less clear. They say they’re doing it to protect the privacy of their platform users. It’s essentially the same response to consumer demand taken by regulators. That said, it may also have something to do with the fact that little to none of Apple’s business is affected by the ITP restrictions. Conversely, a lot of Google’s and Facebook’s business could be affected. There may be competitive motivations.

Workarounds are not the answer

If you track what’s been going on in discussion forums of web analytics experts, you will see a pretty vigorous discussion about how to get around the restrictions placed by ITP. As quickly as workarounds come up though, Apple comes up with an ITP response. This is like playing a game of whac-a-mole.

The cookies that are blocked by ITP are client-side cookies set by web browsers like Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. If client-side cookies are blocked, what else could we do? There are several techniques including query strings in URLs (now blocked after one day), fragment IDs (now blocked after 1 day), and server-side cookies.

This will become an endless war of attrition. Not only is this a black hole for company resources, but let’s recall why this started in the first place. Humans don’t want their data mishandled. Is the correct response to develop plans to circumvent the will of the very people they’re trying to engage and sell stuff to?

Closing the B2B personal data gap may not be possible

At the heart of the ITP challenge is the general frustration with how difficult it is to get data about their prospects and customers. Sure, regulations and the acts of browser developers hamper efforts to get the personal data that fuels traditional processes and technologies, but it’s more than that.

A B2B marketer doesn’t normally have personal data because the incentives for people to share data are much different from the value prop on the retail side of the market. People share data with B2C companies like Amazon because there’s a tremendous value for sharing that info. You get awesome product recommendations, you’re notified when an out-of-stock product becomes available, and your goods find their way to your doorstep.

The B2B marketer can’t offer any of that. At best, they can offer a case study or white paper in exchange for some personal information. But that only yields a tremendously small profile of the potential customer — a name and email address, if you’re lucky. What can one do with such a thin data layer?

As we pointed out in a free eBook about B2B and personalization, one of the fundamental truths of the personalization space is that closing this gap may not be possible or even worthwhile.

Traditional personalization and engagement technologies grew up in the retail space and they’re all fueled by personal information. As these technologies were adopted by B2B companies they didn’t have the fuel so they had to acquire additional technology and data to try and close the gap. Things like Visitor ID tech and Customer Data Platforms are purchased with abandon. But even those don’t allow marketers to identify more than 20 percent of visitors. All that spend with so little return.

So what now for the B2B marketer?

The people don’t want you to use their personal data in untoward ways. Regulators are making it more difficult to use this data. Browsers are limiting your ability to gather data. There’s no compelling value proposition for getting folks to share their data with you. That engagement software you bought is sitting nearly dormant. What now?

It may be time for a different model. Marketers have forgotten that they already have a bounty of data about visitor behavior, visitor intent, and the content prospects need to see that isn’t personal data. Let’s start using that.

In the past, not so much. But today tools have emerged — mostly under the umbrella of AI — that make it possible to distill information from previously inscrutable data. Methods that we’ve found effective with our clients include using natural language processing to understand the content context, machine learning to evaluate and model desired behaviors and a host of information trapped in site search that reveals intent.

Instead of endlessly chasing short-term solutions, it’s time for an entirely different personalization model. Stop the endless chase of personal data. Stop whacking those poor moles.

From Mark Schaefer: Bonus content! I had a chance to interview Steve about Facebook ads and B2B in this jam-packed video:

Steve Zakur is the CEO of Solo Segment, a company that is re-defining B2B personalization with cookie-free, easy-to-deploy, AI tech that delivers more engagement and more leads. The company is offering a free eBook called The Six Personalization Truths Every B2B Marketer Needs to Know.

Illustration by Mars Dorian

The post As the web cookies crumble, what’s a B2B marketer to do? appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

Does it seem like you’re simply careening from crisis to crisis these days?

As marketers, we’ve been dumped into a big fat cauldron of boiling uncertainty. We’re struggling through an economic meltdown, a polarized society, a pandemic casting a shadow of constant fear, a period of civil unrest and social upheaval.

How do we take charge and sell something in an environment like that?

I’ve been fortunate to be in contact with many amazing marketing leaders over the last few weeks and here are the common problems I’m hearing:

• The current situation has disrupted everything we had planned and budgeted. Some marketing channels that rely on face-to-face contact don’t even exist any more.
• We’re afraid to make a move. What do we say?
• The pressure to drive sales is unrelenting and we don’t know how to respond in this environment.
• Budgets have been dramatically cut.
• If we do something bold we could lose our jobs.

Sound familiar?

The imperative

How do we go forward? There’s a quote from marketing legend Philip Kotler that keeps ringing in my head throughout this chaos.

Kotler

On the one-hundredth episode of Douglas Burdett’s exceptional Marketing Book podcast, the legendary Dr. Kotler, now 87 years old, said in his interview:

“What consumers are missing in our world is high touch. They’re missing the satisfaction of real relationships and knowing that other people care.

“There’s a hunger in our world for real intimacy and experience. Brands need to be more human and authentic. They should stop trying to be perfect. Human-centric brands should treat customers as friends, becoming an integral part of their lifestyle. Brands should be more like humans. Approachable. Likable. Even vulnerable.”

To me, this timeless wisdom seems like an effective recipe for success in this upheaval.

• Enable real relationships.
• Let people know you care.
• Be human and authentic.
• Stop trying to be perfect.
• Treat your customers like friends.
• Be approachable. Likable. Even vulnerable.

The problem is, at many companies, this seems like a CRAZY idea. That’s why it’s time for marketing leaders to step up, take charge, and lead the change in marketing that’s coming anyway.

How to do it wrong

The biggest problem is that companies are trying to hold on to the old ways of doing business. They’re locked into an obsolete marketing culture, a budget that funds stuff that doesn’t work any more, and ad agency relationships not built for this day. So, they try to go on with their “normal” marketing programs in an abnormal time.

An example of a recent ad that I HATE:

This week, AT&T brought back the beloved “Lily” character, an actress playing an in-store sales rep. I liked the funny Lily commercials of the past but this new series falls flat.

Lily claims that she is now “working from home” (wearing her neatly pressed uniform and name tag?) and that she is there “to help.” How is she helping us? She wants to sell us a new iPhone.

And oh yes, her new best friend is a guitar that she pasted some eyes on, a tone-deaf joke poking fun at our isolation and the serious problem of mental illness devastating millions of lonely people and families.

This is everything wrong with marketing right now. When I view this ad, all I can see is some New York agency trying too hard to be funny and a desperate attempt at relevance.

There is nothing in this ad that is actually real, human, helpful, or authentic … let alone vulnerable.

In real life, Lily would probably be saying: “Hi! Remember me? I just got laid-off from AT&T because our stores are closed. Can anybody help me figure out how to file for unemployment?”

I don’t want to hear a fake employee tell me AT&T is “with us.” I want to see a company show up and actually do something. Side note: AT&T’s website claims that part of its COVID assistance is offering the ability to pay bills online. Woo-hoo!

Making the same old ads with the same old messages is a failure in leadership. Somebody at AT&T knows how to be human in a crisis. But they probably can’t do it when their company is locked into marketing practices from 1998.

And it’s not just AT&T. It’s a problem almost everywhere I look.

Time to step up

Here is an organizational truth. There’s no such thing as a grassroots cultural change.

If your company is slogging through this global crisis trying to do the same kind of marketing and ads you’ve always done it’s because your leadership team (which may include you) can’t or won’t adjust.

If there is ever a time for a change in attitude and culture, it’s now. The pandemic and widespread civil unrest are amplifying changes that needed to happen anyway and it’s also a time for the inevitable quantum shift in marketing practices I’ve called for in my Marketing Rebellion book.

We have a choice.

We can be greedy and opportunistic, or we can fight to the other side and do it in a way that’s caring and human-centered, full of compassion and grace to our customers who are suffering through illness, job loss, social strife, and paralyzing fear of even going to a grocery store or touching a doorknob.

If you want to survive and be stronger when things turn around, you must demonstrate that now. We’re in a crisis and we might be in the business fight of our lives. But it is also a real opportunity for leaders to emerge and drive needed change..

Take charge.

Marketing leaders need to:

• Create messages sensitive to the context of a suffering world convulsed by protest and fear.
• Show, don’t tell. Don’t just lend a hand. BE the hand.
• Make sure messaging is aligned with the company DNA and brand values.
• Demonstrate true empathy … even vulnerability.
• Stand up to company politics trying to overrule what is right.
• Break the cycle of legalese and ad agency scripts. Stop saying the same damn thing — “We’re with you” — and act like a human being!
• Dispense hope.

The world is not going to recover from these problems with a V-shaped economic rebound. Our customers will have new habits and even permanent fears for years to come. So I’m not proposing a new tactic, I’m proposing a new mindset.

Here’s the opportunity: Make a choice to be a leader. Stand up and create a legacy. Do something right. Do something bold, authentic, and meaningful that will make your customers remember you forever.

Marketing is the face of the company. We’re the creators. We can choose now to lead in a way that is legendary.

Mark Schaefer is the executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions. He is the author of several best-selling digital marketing books and is an acclaimed keynote speaker, college educator, and business consultant.  The Marketing Companion podcast is among the top business podcasts in the world. Contact Mark to have him speak to your company event or conference soon.

The post A world in crisis demands that marketers step up and take charge appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

By Brooke Sellas

Right now, we need remarkable marketing. But how do you deliver remarkability during such a challenging time? In this episode of the Marketing Companion, I’m challenged with finding a co-host as my partner in crime, Mark Schaefer, has gotten sick with the coronavirus.

Luckily, I found a remarkable marketer who knows exactly how to deliver remarkable marketing using data. This episode, I’m joined by Katie Robbert of Trust Insights.

Katie is an authority on compliance, governance, change management, agile methodologies, and dealing with high-stakes, “no mistakes” data. As CEO of Trust Insights, she oversees the growth of the company, manages operations and product commercialization, and sets overall strategy. Her expertise includes strategic planning, marketing operations management, organizational behavior, and market research and analysis.

On the newest show, Katie and I explore how people are delivering remarkable marketing right now, including:

• Tips from the pros (and our friends!) on how to best market during uncertain times
• We discuss Dennis Yu’s take on advertising during a pandemic (should you be advertising right now …?)
• And of course, we discuss the software and tools that are changing the way we work and market

While it may seem impossible for your brand to show up amid a crisis, we’ve got in-ear insights on how marketers are doing just that.

Click on this link to listen to Episode 187

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